The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 73 A Letter from a Pureblood (Please add to your favorites and read on!)

The All-European Wizarding Duel Tournament is held every four years. This year's tournament is being held in Paris, and wizards of all ages who have emerged victorious from various national wizarding duels have been arriving at the French Ministry of Magic in the past few days.

Professor Flitwick and Charlie met Mrs. Maxim during the reporting, and they explained the competition rules to Moriarty in detail.

The competition is divided into adult wizarding groups and underage wizarding groups. The competition format is a brutal elimination tournament. Fleur and Charlie have already registered for the underage wizarding group.

"So you want me to sign up for the underage wizarding group and represent Hogwarts in the competition?" Moriarty's lips curled into a sneer.

Let him, who has learned and is proficient in using the Killing Curse, participate in the underage wizard group? Isn't that just indiscriminate killing?

If he is too young to register for the adult wizard group, then what is the point of participating in this all-European wizard dueling tournament?

"We think you need some fresh air," Dumbledore said earnestly. "Although we don't know what has happened to you, everyone can see that you've been through a lot in just two weeks. Everyone wants you to relax a bit; summer vacation has only just begun, hasn't it?"

Moriarty gazed intently at Dumbledore, whose eyes were clear and bright, and he read in them a plea.

After thinking about it, Moriarty agreed. He had been feeling a bit tired lately, and it wouldn't hurt to go and play with the kids in Eastern Europe.

Everyone smiled with relief. Professor Flitwick ran to the Ministry of Magic to register Moriarty, and Charlie said happily, "Great! Now the championship will definitely belong to Hogwarts and Great Britain! With Mr. Moriarty competing, I don't have to bear such heavy pressure anymore."

Charlie was pitiful, really. Because William was traveling, Leon was interning at the Ministry of Magic, Bill was missing, and Moriarty and Tonks were unwilling to sign up, so he had to represent Hogwarts in the competition.

Charlie's outstanding performance at the All England Wizarding Duels did not make him more confident; instead, it made him more worried.

Fleur, a fellow contestant, understood his thoughts. "In recent years, a large number of outstanding young wizards have emerged in Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, Serbia, and Ukraine. Not to mention the old magical powers, the Russian bear to the north, and that steel chariot..."

Fleur spoke of the magical world of Eastern Europe in a melodious tone, and everyone knew she was speaking to Moriarty, because everyone knew this.

A week later, the All-Europe Wizarding Duel Tournament was held as scheduled. When Moriarty arrived at the venue for the underage group, he found that there were 46 contestants, but nearly half of the young wizards were absent. They had given up the competition for various reasons!

Lady Maxime, who knew some of the inside story, laughed: "Expecting those parasites in the Ministry of Magic to keep this a secret is tantamount to resurrecting Merlin. I dare say that news of Mr. Moriarty's ability to use the Killing Curse has already spread throughout the pure-blood families of France, and naturally, the young masters and princesses of those families won't be participating!"

She frowned. It was only a matter of time before Moriarty became number one, and as for number two… She looked at Charlie and sighed.

So, Furong can only compete for third place?

Mrs. Maxim's wish was not fulfilled, and third place was taken by Viktor Krum from Bulgaria.

Charlie finished second with 1 loss in 7 games.

Moriarty won the championship with a perfect record of 8 wins.

After the match, Moriarty did not attend the awards ceremony or give it extensive coverage, and the French Ministry of Magic obediently cooperated. However, von Vieux Cape asked Dumbledore a meaningful question.

"My respected Albus, what were you doing when you were 12 years old?"

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "I don't remember, but it certainly wasn't a killing curse cast on a vampire."

Feng Wei Cape then asked, "Could Grindelwald and Mystic have cast the Killing Curse at the age of 12?"

"If you have the courage to ask them yourself, you too can unleash the Killing Curse at age 12."

"I'm 48 years old!" The French Minister of Magic looked at Dumbledore helplessly. Sometimes, there was really nothing he could do about this old man who could talk nonsense.

"Oh? Is that so? Then let's take it the other way around." Dumbledore walked away briskly to congratulate Mrs. Maxime.

Furong did not place in the junior category, but an older girl from Beauxbatons won the adult category.

Dumbledore and Mrs. Maxime hosted an afternoon tea party, inviting everyone to celebrate. During the party, Dumbledore invited Moriarty to accompany him to invite Nicolas Flamel.

"I will meet with Master Nico, but not now." Moriarty gestured to Poseidon, who looked like he had just finished a long journey, eating at another table. "Luke sent me a whole bunch of letters, so I'm going back to England tonight to take care of some errands. I'll save my meeting with Master Nico for my first alchemy class of my second year!"

"I really don't know what gives you the confidence to steal our Beauxbatons' treasure!" Mrs. Maxime said angrily.

Nicolas Flamel studied at Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he met his future wife. He later funded the school with a castle and grounds, and the fountain on the school grounds was named after the Flamels.

Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry still preserves a large number of Nicolas Flamel's manuscripts and alchemical notes.

All the principals of Beauxbatons have considered Nicolas Flamel a student, and every Beauxbatons student is proud to have Nicolas Flamel as their alumnus.

And now Hogwarts is trying to poach Nicolas Flamel?

The key point is that the old man and the child in front of me are so confident!

Mrs. Maxim suddenly realized that the dessert and black tea in her hands no longer tasted good.

Moriarty and Dumbledore exchanged a knowing smile; this question was perhaps their only unspoken understanding.

Nicolas Flamel lived for over six hundred years, and very few things in this world could move him, but rare and precious knowledge was one of them.

After afternoon tea, Moriarty was heading to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to catch a flight back to London. Everyone said goodbye to Moriarty. Charlie was very interested in airplanes and kept pestering Moriarty for information. Moriarty decided to give him an airport guide and a set of "The Complete Book of Airplanes" as a Christmas gift this year.

When it was Fleur's turn to say goodbye to Moriarty, she gently hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for saving me that night. You may be able to change your appearance, but you can't change your eyes. Don't ask why, just take it as a Veil's intuition. Bye-bye~ Don't come to France again, or you'll be punished by the vampires."

"Meva's intuition, huh..." Moriarty watched Fleur's departing figure. They had been in contact for a week, and only now had Fleur left a good impression on Moriarty.

On the plane, Moriarty took out the letters Luke had sent him—a total of thirty letters!

Luke had already sorted through the letters. The first letter was written by Lohar, who reported to Moriarty on the state of industry in Romania.

After investing a large amount of money, the Flint family's dragon farm was established, and the dragon-related breeding, service, and tourism industries also flourished.

The cake is only so big, but more and more people want a slice. The Flint family has become the target of envy and joint attacks from other pure-blood wizards and local Romanian wizards.

Lockhart responded to this by saying:

"My esteemed young master, the local wizards are a bunch of greedy misers. When I put boxes and boxes of gold bricks in front of them, they wish they could kiss my ass!"

As for the pure-blood families of Britain—those pure-bloods who, along with old Flint, belonged to the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans—I thought they were incredibly powerful!

A week ago, I met with Lucius Malfoy, the pureblood representative. To be precise, Lucius personally went to Romania to negotiate with old Flint—the Malfoy family's dragon farm had been forced to close down by old Flint.

I really want to show you Lucius's face! Hmph, this hypocrite has been blocking our mutual aid foundation, now he'll have to watch his own face!

Lucius hoped that old Flint would spare his dragon farm and extended an olive branch to the old Flint family on behalf of the Twenty-Eight Holy Pureblood Families.

"I'm happy to tell you that old Flint is trustworthy. He hasn't forgotten the oppression the pure-bloods suffered against him; he imposed many harsh conditions, and Lucius turned green with rage when he left Romania."

Upon seeing this, Moriarty opened the second letter written by old Flint. In addition to lengthy expressions of gratitude, the letter also mentioned Lucius's trip to Romania to meet with old Flint.

To avenge the ostracization and oppression he suffered years ago, old Flint devised a series of elaborate schemes to humiliate Lucius.

Lucius, who called himself "Platinum Aristocrat," actually held back, which made Moriarty curious. Was this the Malfoy family's style?

Upon reaching the end of the letter, old Fleet explained Moriarty's doubts: Lucius was rallying support among the major pure-blood families to campaign for Fudge's rise to power next year.

Old Flint added at the end: "According to Lucius, he plans to hold a pureblood gathering at the Malfoy Manor in mid-July, which will be attended by all the major pureblood families. I think he will definitely invite you, young master."

So Moriarty opened the third letter, which was addressed to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire.

"Dear Mr. Moriarty, I am your forever loyal friend, Lucius Malfoy."

As you surely know, for thousands of years, every member of the Malfoy family has graduated from Slytherin! The Malfoy family was overjoyed to learn of your return from China. We also heard that you dislike ostentation, so we did not disturb you during your first year of school.

Things are different now.

My friends Gilderoy Lockhart, Flint the Elder, Foley the Elder, and your senior Mintham told me that you were able to think like a principal at the age of 11.

Therefore, I take the liberty of inviting you to the annual Pureblood gathering, and please believe that next year will be an extraordinary year.

The power shift within the Ministry of Magic and the reshuffling of the pure-blood family market were topics of discussion at the gathering. Everyone who is a pure-blood knows that the Slytherin family is the purest of pure-bloods. Therefore, I urge you to carefully consider these two issues.

May Merlin bless you.

At the end of the letter was printed the Malfoy family motto: Born noble.

As if by prior arrangement, starting with the third letter, all 27 consecutive letters came from pure-blood families, without exception.

"What does it mean that the Holy Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families of England invited me to the Pureblood Gathering at this time? It seems that the combination of Lockhart and old Flint has really put a lot of pressure on them." Moriarty played with the letters with amusement. He weighed the letters in his hand. They were very light, but the weight they represented was very heavy.

Interestingly, the thirtieth letter was signed Cornelius Fudge.

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(End of this chapter)